Chapter Text
I-I
序章
Preface
The world is being corroded by evil dimensional distortions…
…
The savage god of destruction, Spiritus…
The sublime goddess of protection, Materia…
...
This world was chosen by both gods and was born as a resting place for warriors...
…
The gods of the two pillars gathered many warriors throughout time-space.
...
These warriors fought each other day after day, and dedicated the power of their battles to their respective gods.
Throughout the repeated and fierce battles, the warriors were wounded and their souls were fractured into a thousand pieces...
Until the light of the Crystal reached that place.
The Crystal pitied the warriors and wished to give them the rest they needed.
...
The gods of the other world responded to the light of the Crystal...
And they created this fantasy land.
…
The warriors were supposed to have a short rest here…
But…
...
Suddenly, dimensional distortions appeared and summoned legions of demons, plunging the entire world into darkness.
If the erosion of the distortions spread and ended up also consuming the world connected to the warriors, eventually all of time-space would collapse.
...
To stop the collapse, the Moogle ancestral spirit was summoned.
...
The Moogle spirit promised to gather warriors who possessed the "will of light" to save the world, and set out...
...
Erosion spread rapidly and the preservation of the world became increasingly difficult...
There was no... time...
…
The strength of thoughts and their will make up the power of warriors.
...
Your decisions will become the guides that will open your new paths.
Your desires will become the key that will reveal the truth of the world.
…
" Now go…
Believe in your own brilliance..."
"Memories can become the strength and power to protect the world," the goddess reflected as she levitated over that infinite blue expanse. Behind her, an immense and radiant celestial crystal rotated harmoniously on its own axis, throwing the sparkles of its effulgent faces in all directions. "This powerful Moogle spirit should be able to achieve it... it must be so..." the entity added in a serious tone.
The cerulean color of the sky in that strange dimension intermingled with the misty indigo that paved the unreal ground, together forming a chimerical uniformity. Ephemeral bursts of luminous ether crossed the atmosphere, and a crystalline melody could almost be perceived behind the beams of light that populated the infinite panorama. The golden strands that made up Materia's hair matched the color of her eyes, producing a beautiful contrast with that landscape. Her skin shone like a pearl through the unusual mesh attire she wore, as a result of the reverberation of that place.
The dreamlike atmospheric balance was disrupted by an animated little musical voice that suddenly appeared.
"Kupo~! Leave it to Mog, kupo!" exclaimed energetically the newly arrived character, who had undoubtedly managed to hear the goddess's musings. It would have been practically impossible to distinguish the small animal from any ordinary moogle; a small floating body, tiny bat wings that fluttered incessantly behind him, a big red nose under his funny half-closed eyes, and a fluffy pom-pom of the same color and dimensions as the nose hanging over his head. That adorable moogle hardly had anything mystical, much less ancestral, in its amusing appearance. "Mog will guide the warriors to the epicenter of the dimensional distortions, kupo," the little one hummed and then, nodding, he added wisely, "If we defeat the mastermind behind the dimensional distortions, all the fissures will close, kupo!"
Materia peacefully and unmovingly observed the small creature while she listened to his words. A sea of frosty particles stirred within the mirrored walls of the Crystal.
"The warriors are scattered throughout the world and each one follows their own path," the goddess mused, caressing her scepter as she lowered her gaze. After pausing for a couple of seconds, she added "… The battle will be easy if we manage to find them…"
"Kupopo! Mog is doing his best, kupo!" The moogle exclaimed enthusiastically as he nodded again. "Let me tell you something, kupo," he indicated, taking a long pause, as if wishing to weave an atmosphere of intrigue. After this, he finally burst out with melodic joy. "Mog already found four warriors!"
The goddess of protection blinked a couple of times while she weighed what the spirit had said, and as if maintaining a new monologue, she began to slowly list the characteristics of each of the warriors gathered, as if extracting them from her own memory with a long and delicate bronze clamp as if it were the moogle's own mind.
"A knight who carries the light on his chest... A boy with a small body with immense hidden magical power... A man full of love for his family... A girl who makes life flourish in times of war..."
"I'll start traveling with those four people, kupo!" Expressed the vivid moogle in response to what the divinity said while he did a somersault in the air, imbued with the enthusiasm that characterized him.
"...I understand," indicated the still absorbed deity. "You can go. Dimensional erosion is progressing at a terrible scale and speed," and, adopting a sorrowful tone, she concluded "...There...there is no time left..."
The little Mog remained silent for a tiny period of time after which, and not without some hesitation, he dared to ask:
"Do you want us to leave the god Spiritus alone, kupo?"
"What do you mean with that?" Materia asked with pause and curiosity.
"Sorry for thinking about these things, kupo," Mog said, looking away as he struggled to find the right words to express his concern. Not finding the most suitable ones, he was forced to make use of the simplest aspect of sincerity that could emanate from him as he turned with his head down and turned his back on the goddess. “…Maybe it's just my opinion, but I wish I could trust him, kupo.” …
Materia looked benevolently at the creature, closed her eyes, and her mind was immersed in distant memories.
"He and I are incompatible," she said, managing to attract the attention of the moogle, who turned to listen to what he was saying. “We were born that way… but you don't have to worry about that,” she added.
"…What if his way of doing things conflicts with that of the Mog warriors?" The spirit asked again with distress as he allowed gravity to exert its influence on his gaze.
"In that case I will trust what the warriors you choose decide," Materia reasoned gently. "All those who... possess the 'will of light'... must be able to make the right decisions," she concluded, reassuring the small creature with the echo of his words. Mog meditated for a moment, after which he regained some of his characteristic elation.
"I understand, kupo!" He exclaimed with energy. After this, a short awkward silence during which there was an exchange of glances with the goddess slid unctuously, until it was interrupted by a small startle from the soft little animal "…Kupó! As we speak, new dimensional distortions appear, kupo!"
“…Go,” Materia agreed. "We will save this world together with the warriors."
"Of course, kupo!" Exclaimed the little moogle full of conviction as he intoned the words of assent. "Here I come, kupó~!" And he flew (or floated) away as quickly and abruptly as he had arrived at that place.
Between the silence of nothingness and the soft celestial waves that painted the infinite landscape imitating the waves of the sea, between the brilliance of the crystal and the luminous trails that danced in the air, the goddess sank back into her solitary meditations.
"Dimensional distortions also corrode the endless cycle of battles," her voice levitated among the frosty particles of the enclosure "… We must discover their true nature to protect the universe."
Silence once again summed up the dimension within which Materia was protected. Her lips closed but thoughts of prophecies, dooms and redemptions continued to stir within her mind, soon forcing her to burst into peaceful words that fractured the mirror of her tranquility.
"That is… my duty as a goddess…"
光の戦士
The Warriors Of Light
"This is your level?!" said a guttural voice with contempt. The imposing figure of the speaker of that arrogant vituperation rose, eclipsing that of a man prostrate on his knees, wrapped between bloody lacerations and dull gasps of agony. A purple vastness sheltered them and had been the scene of the deadly battle previously developed. Tiny amethyst sparkles were born and languished immediately among the fog that surrounded the site of the meeting between the two warriors.
"Ugh…!" All the poor mortally wounded knight could allow himself was to utter a painful lamentation that inevitably escaped from his throat. The copper of blood flooded his senses, and the violet undertone of the misty unfathomable universe loomed over him like a premature tomb.
"You will die here for all eternity, and we will continue to exist perpetually..." Garland continued with his despotic speech. A new cycle concluded with the defeat of light under the massive burden of entropy, and the eternal battle would soon expire to be reborn from its ashes and be resumed... once again. "The will of light will disappear!" The brutal combatant roared at the top of his lungs as he burst into raucous laughter and held firmly onto Rebellion, his massive segmented sword. Immediately afterwards, after casting a haughty look in response to the one stoically held by the injured warrior, he grunted and mercilessly attacked with the beastly weight of his weapon combined with the enormous power of his right arm, in a disproportionate oblique impact that split the knight's armor and threw him through the air of that rarefied atmosphere. The devastating blow was accompanied by a deafening clang of metal, the terrifying crunch of fracturing bones, and a completely heartbreaking scream of pain.
Because that colossal sword was little more than a large beam with a rough, blunt edge, it had been a fiery collision rather than a clean cut that took the life of the Warrior of Light.
"Are you ok?!"
An alarmed female voice made him wake up from his lethargy. Kneeling again, shaking his head, he opened his eyes to the world unfolding before him. A torrent of light blinded him for painful seconds, and only the sensation of the refreshing breeze on the skin of his pale face managed to wake him from the trance... from the resurrection.
The color green replaced the whitish glow of the light. An open field. Solitary trees scattered throughout an extensive plain. Knolls and hills looming in the distance, like petrified waves beating on the surface of a grassy ocean. The Warrior stood up and took a few steps forward, ignoring the individuals who were nearby observing him in a small circle, and cast a searching look at the landscape. A couple of dry leaves dragged by the tireless whistling wind of that esplanade impacted against his armor. His long silver hair shook as much as the horned helmet that covered him allowed. The dents created in the recent battle were gone, as were his war bruises.
"When we found you, you were full of wounds… I used all my magic to try to heal you, are you feeling better?" the girl asked again. Finally, along with a new breath of freshness, a wisp of lucidity passed through the Warrior's mind.
"I... where?" Those were the only words he managed to articulate between the tides of that overwhelming confusion. He barely had some time to settle the ideas that were swirling analogous to the cold breeze of that hill, when a stentorian roar burst into the tranquility of the meadow, violently devouring the howling of the wind.
"Monsters are attacking us!" Exclaimed a child who until now had gone unnoticed by the Warrior's eyes, while he pointed in the direction from which the chilling noise came. Only then was the armed knight able to observe those present in that place with some detail. The little boy was wearing a huge patched hat with a bent tip that completely obscured his face, a somewhat worn blue jacket, and green and white striped pants. Next to him was a young woman from whom the voice that made him wake up from his torpor had undoubtedly been emitted. Her hair was brown and fell over her shoulders on both sides of her neck, her face was kind, her eyes red like two natural rubies, and she wore a unique black uniform with golden shoulder pads and a crimson cape. If he did not possess the inalterability that characterized him, he would have been somewhat surprised to also notice the presence of a moogle fluttering among those present. After this quick examination of his companions, and reacting to the sudden and alarming situation, the Warrior of Light put the questions aside, summoned his trusty sword and hurried to the opposite end of the hill next to the newly known companions of his.
The atmosphere of the peaceful landscape had begun to deform as a thin fissure made a tortuous appearance in the middle of nowhere, accompanied by an unpleasant static noise. Soon a dull explosion impetuously widened the crack, expanding it in the air like an insatiable flame that consumed an ancient scroll. The fissure quickly transformed into a terrifying vortex of dark energy that opened its jaws towards an unknown dimension, overflowing with darkness and terror.
Expectant before the threatening distortion, the newly gathered warriors managed to appreciate with displeasure how a emaciated arm slowly escaped from the eternal abyss that never stopped expanding. The emaciated limb was followed by a thin body of hideous appearance. Pointed ears, an elongated nose, a voracious smile adorned with a few disparate fangs that peeked out from the haggard lips, and a pair of malicious, gleaming eyes.
"The opponent is a goblin…" the Warrior observed haughtily without looking at those present, "let me take care of this alone."
"Kupo! Okay, but Mog will support you with his advice!" the little animal exclaimed quickly. "You must use the will of the light within you!"
The Warrior of Light seemed to turn a deaf ear to the spirit moogle's words. After a moment of mental preparation, he held his weapon proudly and, without wasting a second, rushed quickly at the monster, cutting him cleanly into two pieces without the slightest effort. While the remains of that vermin writhed in a sharp death rattle and its impious blood stained the green grass of the hill, new fissures spontaneously emerged near where the first had closed. The atmosphere of the place had become stale, and the air was heavy when inhaled by those present. Soon new creatures emerged from the newly blossomed dimensional rifts, and without delay a small troop of goblins began to prepare to assault the heroes.
"Kupo?! Are enemies still appearing, kupo?!" Mog expressed alarm as he made a surprise turn in the air. The Warrior of Light nodded, gripping his shield firmly as he readied his sword for the imminent attack. A small voice broke into his concentration.
"From here on we will fight together!" The courageous voice of support came from the little boy with the darkened face. His childish tone was imbued with courage, and a feeling that could have turned into a smile of temperance subtly surfaced in the core of the iron conviction that surrounded the Warrior's heart.
"It's okay," the knight said calmly as the boy and the girl trotted closer, "I trust you."
The dozens of repulsive skinny creatures that germinated from the shadowy bowels of the dimensional distortions approached with grotesque strides while shaking their claws and tasting the tempestuous breeze of that meadow with their horrendous tongues, between gurgles and screams. The Warrior held firmly to his shield as he gripped the hilt of his sword in anticipation of the first wave. Suddenly, the mysterious appearance of an icy breath in his vicinity attracted his attention to the child, who was standing next to him. With a hint of shock he managed to realize that the boy had armed himself with a cane around which tiny frosty flakes were beginning to take shape while he swung it non-stop. Immediately afterwards, the little one with the hat uttered a sharp voice of "Blizzard!" and, without delay, a thick fog of condensation concentrated around one of the rampaging creatures to end up materializing, forming a robust ice crystal that imprisoned the monster for a few seconds, after which it fractured and exploded into the air. The monster fell instantly, fragmented into a thousand pieces, and others were roughly bruised and restrained by the splinters thrown up by the explosion of that frozen floe.
A feeling of satisfaction filled the Warrior of Light, who finally left his suspended state and charged towards the small horde. With surprising lightness for an armored knight, the Warrior made his way through his enemies with extraordinary shield blows while he made dazzling cuts with his impeccable sword, Braveheart. The wounds of the downed enemies flashed blinding beams of holy light before they completely expired. Some of the icy splinters flying back and forth rattled as they hit the Warrior's bluish armor, and perhaps would have caused some damage if not for it. The boy was reckless, but the power of his spells could not be underestimated.
A sudden gust of breeze shook the vicinity of the Warrior. He turned for a couple of seconds to focus his sight on the presence that had begun to fight at his side, and managed to observe the crimson-cloaked girl move from one enemy to the other with impressive agility, demonstrating great expertise in combat through the use of a pair of daggers as red as her pupils. The red blades mingled with the spilled blood of the downed monsters while the girl dodged the clumsy blows they launched, snuck behind their backs, inflicted new mortal wounds with the edge of her weapons, and quickly pounced on a new victim.
The meadow was soon inked with the bile of those vile creatures, and their severed limbs began to ooze a thick evil mist that did not take long to engulf them, sending them directly to whatever dimension they had been torn from. Despite this, the short rest was barely enough to catch his breath, as a last group of relegated goblins began to march quickly against the warriors.
"Rem!" The moogle shouted "The goblins are weak by nature, kupo. You can try to take out several at once, kupo!"
The girl understood her suggestion and, after nodding, she joined both daggers by the handle and threw them with extraordinary skill at the monsters. The blades spun with shocking speed like propellers of death and tore apart five or six goblins at a time, slicing them on the spot. Taking advantage of the confusion and terror in the small group, the Warrior of Light rushed in sword in hand and finished off the few who tried to escape. The spinning daggers drew a wide scarlet parabola and returned to the place from which they had been thrown to be captured with a quick movement by the young woman.
Silence. No more screams or war cries. The howling of the wind regained its dominance over those hills. The battle had been successfully overcome, and Mog could not hide his happiness.
"Guys, you were amazing, kupo! Even though it was your first time, you did it perfectly, kupo~!" he said as he spun in the air, flooded with joy. The warriors dispelled their weapons and enjoyed the tranquility of the windy meadow for a couple of seconds. Only after this, the ruby-eyed girl addressed the thoughtful Warrior once more.
"Um... Were you okay a while ago?" She asked gently, recapitulating the pre-combat question.
"...I'm fine," the Warrior answered solemnly. After rambling for a moment, he decided to ask a question of his own. "You are… Rem, aren't you?"
"Yes, nice to meet you. There is also a child here..."
"I am Vivi," the infant with the glowing yellow eyes intervened, shaking his head. "I was lost in this world, and Mog rescued me."
"They are both warriors carrying the 'will of light' just like me... aren't they?" The knight continued, stringing together the loose ideas that he had managed to capture since his abrupt appearance in that place.
"Exactly, kupo!" confirmed the moogle spirit. "Only with your power will you be able to save the world from dimensional distortions, kupo!"
"Ehm… all those monsters came out of the dimensional distortion, right?" Vivi asked somewhat shyly, shunning into the conversation.
"And only we can stop its appearance," Rem reflected crestfallen, assuming the answer to the little black magician's question. After a sigh, she let out a question that had possibly been plaguing her for some time. "…Are we really up to such an important task?"
"Believe in Mog, kupo!" The little animal simply answered cheerfully while he propelled himself up into the air. After this, he indicated something as obvious as it was irrefutable. "But first, we must close the small distortion near here, kupo."
"Alright. Let's do our best,” Vivi said in an attempt to encourage himself and the others.
"Mog will support you with all his power, kupo!" exclaimed the moogle with joy. The Warrior of Light observed him silently.
"We're counting on you," he agreed.
The sky of the prairie had become pigmented with a stormy hue and new dimensional distortions emerged from nowhere in all places. The storm clouds threatened to pour rain and the static electricity in the atmosphere crackled violently. The warriors of light made their way with relative ease through the despicable hordes of goblins that once again stood in their way. The moogle gave orders and directives like a field marshal, and the fighters shot down left and right those aberrant creatures that were really nothing more than a very uncomfortable nuisance. It was not long before the newly opened distortions dissipated again into nothingness and emptiness, and the few surviving monsters, finding themselves cornered, made a hasty flight across the hills.
"We have to give chase to them to find the main distortion, kupo!" Mog exclaimed urgently.
After a hasty race after the fleeing goblins and some inevitable pauses in which it was necessary to lift little Vivi from the ground due to his apparently natural stumbles, the warriors soon reached a hill on which rose a particularly wide fissure that awaited like the drooling jaws of a starving wolf waiting for its prey. An unknown sea of stars, spilled into that crack, flaunted the sidereal mysteries that made up its core while emanating a dissonant unnatural breath, a vestige of another universe.
Cautiously (and not without reason), the warriors slowly approached that thundering vortex. The retreating spawn had crossed the interdimensional threshold and were surely now safe somewhere beyond the reach of the heroes. Before they could say any words to discuss a viable method of closing that opening in time-space, a small portal appeared above them and, as they quickly retreated, an indigo-colored, amorphous and viscous substance began to flow, slowly sliding from above until it completely yielded to its own weight and the force of gravity. That thick mass fell with filthy pastiness on the tender leaves of the grassland, and before the warriors even had the opportunity to react, the lumpy pulp began to bubble making convulsive movements, swelling first, then rising on itself and, gaining volume, finally a pair of deep and sickly eyes emerged from its depths, like ominous garnets. Without delay, an enormous slit that perfectly imitated a morbid smile appeared, allowing them to observe the red and pulsating interior of that aberration.
"A flan appeared!" the little floating animal screeched as it retreated a little. "But thanks to Vivi's fire, this will be an easy victory, kupo!"
"I-I understand," the black magician said with a hint of hesitation. "Should I use Fire against that flan?" He asked, and after taking a few seconds to accumulate some courage, he concluded, without waiting for an answer "Very well, I'll do my best!"
The innocent Vivi closed his eyes and waved his High Mage Staff at a leisurely pace. Small embers accumulated on top of it while inconsistent wisps of smoke rose and drew unreal figures in the air. Realizing that the boy with the hat would need some time to concentrate and condense his magical energies, the Warrior of Light pounced on that gelatinous being with the intention of buying a few extra seconds. The monster, already set in motion, responded to the act and made use of his own magical power, summoning enormous icy splinters against the hero. Despite being completely unprepared for the possibility that this monster had the ability to use spells, the Warrior effortlessly dodged the first block of ice with which the living slime tried to crush him and, having already gotten close enough, hit the creature three portentous sword blows. Immutable as always, the knight managed to appreciate how the gelatinous body of that thing mockingly cushioned every last one of his blows, one after another, and remained unscathed after every effort to cause him any harm.
Taking advantage of the opening, the slimy monster somehow managed to push itself up and abruptly threw itself at the Warrior with the intention of surprising him with a bump. Producing a tempered metallic sound, the slimy body of the beast only managed to meet the solid wall of the Shield of Light, but far from wasting such an opportunity, the flan adhered to it with all the strength that its amorphous jaws could apply while trying to swallow it hastily. The Warrior of Light began to plunge his sword into the elastic mass without even being able to cleave its blue surface, and he was already ready to waste some of his elemental fangs on that vile creature before a crimson silhouette drew a fleeting trail until reaching the back of the mucus. Rem had decided to intervene in the battle to give the Warrior a hand while the little black magician prepared his spell.
"Siphon sphere!" The girl shouted while joining once again her daggers by the handle, and made them spin until an orb of purple energy was ejected in front of her. The orb levitated slowly and imperturbably in the direction of the flan, and as soon as it came into contact with the lumpy body of the monstrous organism, the sphere exploded and countless sparks of ethereal lights broke off from the amorphous beast to be absorbed by the crimson young woman automatically. As soon as this had happened, the strange appendages of the flan distended and the Warrior was able to free his shield from that unpleasant imprisonment. It seemed that his new comrades-in-arms were full of surprises. Before he could enter into any kind of thought, a warning voice attracted his attention.
"Step aside, guys!" Vivi warned with alarm. The Warrior and Rem took a long jump away from the flan. The black magician shook his staff in the air a couple more times while he kept his eyes closed and, opening them, shouted, "Fire!"
A thin flash of light preceded a loud explosion originating from the very core of the monstrous gelatin. Immediately afterwards, a fiery blast of fire enveloped the flan, igniting it and setting it on fire from the inside out. The amorphous creature writhed, screeched and convulsed in a vain attempt to appease the flames that consumed it. Finally, his strength gave way, and when the last tongue of fire had disappeared, all that remained was nothing more than an inconsistent puddle of indigo slime.
"Attack the flan while it's in that condition, kupo!" Mog indicated urgently as he noticed the state of the monster. The warriors received the order with a small expression of surprise, since they had already considered the monster dead. Despite this, both the Warrior and Rem obeyed and stabbed their weapons into the dissolved mass that spread at their feet. The edge of their weapons easily pierced the once impenetrable surface and reached the vulnerable russet core of the creature, which exhaled a final gurgle, like a death rattle, finally dissolving completely among the tender blades of grass, before completely disappearing into the ground with a flash of light and returning to the place from which it had come.
Without preamble or giving room to rest, some goblins began to emerge from the depths of the enormous dimensional distortion that still exposed its overwhelming jaws on that hill. Despite their exhaustion, the warriors had no choice but to rid themselves of those despicable annoyances one by one. Rem's daggers danced to the sound of the wind and the Warrior's sword shone in all its splendor with each accurate cut to the filthy flesh of the malicious minions. Every now and then a new flan would poke its mucous appendages through the spatial fissure, and Vivi would receive them with a portentous flare that reduced them to a grotesque limp paste spilled on the grass. Rem herself was capable of casting offensive spells too, and she did so on sporadic occasions, after extracting the magical energy required from her enemies' corpses using an unknown technique.
With each monster slain, the dimensional distortion shrank a few inches and the threat of a space-time cataclysm receded appreciably. At times the crack emitted static murmurs as its edges shook violently. On other occasions, the universe of stars that was hidden in its bowels seemed to languish, and its colors gave way to the clarity of nothingness. Finally, the last goblin fell heavily with a muffled noise, and the remains of the other felled beasts disappeared one after another, enveloped in a purple light similar to that emitted by the distortions. The warriors maintained their offensive posture for another minute or two until they were convinced that they were now safe from any further enemy attacks.
Although the Warrior of Light remained on guard, both Vivi and Rem eventually let their weapons fade and slowly approached the fissure so they could observe it closely. The dimensional throat had already shrunk enough to make it impossible for any monster reckless enough to launch a solo attack, and in case some new flan let its glutinous tentacles slip through the narrow opening, Vivi was more than prepared to receive it with his fire spells. The little sorcerer let out a sigh of relief and Mog harmoniously shook his wings in order to get closer to his… subordinates?
Unexpectedly, a strident roar shook the temporary tranquility that had permeated that meadow. Two hands of colossal size appeared from the depths of the alien dimension, held tightly to the edges of the fissure and, as if it were a thin sliding screen, used their brute force to widen the fissure until it regained its original shape and size. Vivi and Rem retreated quickly, intimidated by the terror that this event inspired, and the Warrior of Light held his shield firmly, adopting a defensive stance. Suddenly and in the middle of a new thunderous roar, a gigantic humanoid being rushed out of the dimensional distortion. The giant wore bulky armor of disproportionate proportions and easily rose to four or five meters in height. His corpulent viridian-colored body was crowned by a tiny head hidden under a small helmet and he carried a rustic sword of colossal size in his right hand.
"An iron giant, kupo!" The fluttering moogle exclaimed in horror. "Be careful of his powerful attacks, kupo!" He warned as he flew away to a safe distance.
Barely leaving the dimensional rift behind, the monster released another deafening metallic roar into the heavens. After this, he without delay held his sword with iron tenacity and attacked the defenseless Vivi with one jump, without contemplation, prepared to deliver a horrifying sword blow with all his strength.
"Protect Vivi with your Radiant Shield, kupo!" The ancestral spirit ordered the Warrior of Light. He barely had time to be surprised by the way in which the moogle seemed to know in advance both his abilities and those of his companions. Discipline ran through his veins, and a second voice of command was not needed for him to take action. With lightning speed, the knight placed his sword vertically in front of him and, after accumulating a sufficient amount of light within it, raised the edge in the direction of the firmament, channeling all the energy contained within through the blade, and releasing it on the little black magician.
"Shine!" exclaimed the Warrior of Light just in time to summon a shield composed of light energy around the boy that instantly cushioned the crushing impact of the giant. The earth rumbled upon receiving the impact and the shock of the crash made Vivi fall into a sitting position while he trembled from head to toe, with only a few centimeters separating the crude edge of that monumental saber from his face. The shield vanished, leaving behind a myriad of brilliant golden sparks, and Vivi crawled out of the giant's reach with surprising speed.
The colossal warrior remained motionless for a few seconds. The tiny yellow lights that made up his eyes shone brightly in the depths of his helmet, as if trying to understand what had just happened. Finally, a heavy clacking sounded inside him, and his limbs regained their lost mobility. The giant stood up and observed his small adversaries one by one while he swung his sword heavily at his side.
"There is no time to lose!" The Warrior of Light stated as he pounced on the colossus. The iron monster responded to the knight's movement with astonishing speed considering its size, and launched a gigantic cross slash at the ground. The Warrior gracefully moved away from the spectacular blow and jumped on the huge sword, leaning on its rough edge to propel himself in a jump that directed him directly at the giant's tiny head. Having reached such an advantageous position, the knight showered the corpulent humanoid with a torrent of cuts and thrusts. Sparks and beams of light escaped after each impact between the blade of the Braveheart and the iron shell of the titan. Before touching the grass again under his feet, the hero had already understood that it would be very difficult for him to pierce that annoying armor with simple sword blows.
"I know these monsters," Rem revealed after stealthily transporting herself onto the creature's back. "In the place I come from, they were beings created by an ancient civilization... mechanical sentinels with the sole purpose of guarding their arcane technology."
The girl slashed left and right against the giant's short but solid legs, even knowing that this would not have any success; however, the titan felt this attacks and turned abruptly while launching a powerful sword blow with such force that the pressurized wave of air ejected by it made both the blades of grass and the brown hair of the girl, who had avoided the blow, tremble, throwing her onto the grass. The squeaks produced by those metal plates rubbing against each other could really grate on the nerves of even the most tempered.
"So that means..." the Warrior mused in response to the words of his companion. Without thinking twice, he took advantage of the new opening to shower the colossus with a new myriad of techniques not only with the sword, but also with his shield, which he used as another weapon with unparalleled mastery. Unfortunately, he obtained a similar result to his first offensive, and barely managed to make a few scratches on the colossus' shell.
For his part, after having survived such a crushing fate, Vivi remained on the sidelines of the confrontation, jumping from one side to the other nervously, shaking his staff sometimes or moving to different places without completely deciding to intervene in the fight due to the prevention of not representing a burden or hindering the movements of his companions.
"That's it!" Rem replied. "They are beings composed of metal, and nothing else. There is no life in them! They are simple automatons!"
With each missed blow, the giant let out strange resonant roars from within. Maybe he adapted to his opponents and those roars indicated a change in his internal guidelines. Perhaps the rust between his joints caused a numbness that could only be overcome with unthinkable physical effort. Or perhaps the synthetic condition of his existence mattered little and he simply felt a genuine sea of fury boiling within him.
Vivi had stopped his restless movements and had sunk into an abyss of reverie after hearing the words spoken by the young woman in the red uniform. His attentive yellow eyes abstractedly observed the iron colossus as he tried in vain to crush one of his companions in action with the edge of his enormous saber. The lack of reasoning prevented the giant from being able to conceive an idea other than that of heartlessly ending those threats. Thoughts of the past flooded the boy's mind.
"It's just a metallic giant... a lifeless shell..." the Warrior mentally repeated without noticing the obviousness present in his enemy's name. A light turned on inside his mind and, taking advantage of the fact that the monster was distracted by the agile girl, he dipped his hand into one of the bags that hung on the sides of his armor. Inside it, he picked up a small cuneiform object and threw it into the air without a second thought. "Rem, get out of the way!" He warned in a stern tone. The blue fang he had launched above his head wavered for an instant and, upon reaching its maximum height, vanished in a dazzling glow, instantly unleashing a chain of electric rays that fell from above and rushed one after another after the giant. The last of them managed to hit him squarely at the precise moment in which Rem had managed to get rid of his heavy attacks. Electricity coursed through the robust body of that living hulk, and while small static discharges coursed across its metallic surface, the titan remained motionless, unable to regain consciousness. The small luminaries that served as eyes were enveloped in the darkness of fading. Unfortunately, the power of the elemental fangs possessed by the Warrior was insufficient to contain the colossus and, aware of this, the knight turned to the only person capable of invoking a spell with the necessary power to stop the monster definitively.
"Vivi! Do you know any electrical spells?" He hurriedly questioned the boy without losing his cold composure. Vivi remained motionless in his place, watching without looking. "Vivi!" He repeated, raising his voice with an austere tone. The boy woke up with the scream and shook his head from side to side in an attempt to clear his thoughts.
"Y-yes," he answered, choking on a brief stutter. Without wasting any more time, he closed his eyes and began to gather magical energy, just as he had done before. The iron giant soon regained his senses and his sight brightened again. A few clicks inside him produced a strange reverberation, and the monster let out a thunderous scream as he violently shook his mighty arms. During that outburst of fury, the monumental sword plunged into that meadow as if it were a puddle, and madly uprooted enormous clods and lumps to throw them with a crash meters away.
"Rem, we must keep the giant busy," the Warrior of Light indicated to the young woman with the daggers while he stood between the monster and the black magician, protecting the latter from the violent trajectory of those machine-gunned stones. The speed of that monstrous artifice had increased considerably, and his attacks were becoming more erratic with every second that slipped into battle. The ground rumbled with his missed punches and his crushing footsteps. Meanwhile, Mog watched with satisfaction the Warrior's development in battle. His leadership skills were impressive, and seeing him finally take on the role of command among his peers during a time of difficulty filled him with delight. A small but distinguishable electric arc had begun to appear on the tip of Vivi's staff, and some sparks melted in the air after making tiny bursts near the big gloves that the infant was wearing.
After having caused enough destruction to the relief of the hill after each of the frustrated attempts to finish off the heroes, the colossus held his weapon with both hands and gave a jump similar to the one he had used against Vivi at the beginning of the battle, aiming this time at the Warrior of Light. Far from dodging him again, the knight planted himself firmly on the ground, raised his shield and received with extraordinary firmness the forceful impact of the enormous sword plus the inhuman weight of the iron giant. The shocking metallic sound echoed in the ears of everyone present and the warrior's feet sank between the grass and the earth as the muscles in his legs and arms tensed in an effort to contain the immense pressure exerted by the force of the colossus.
"Vivi, now!" He indicated with a growl as he broke free from the monster's oppression. An intense sizzling light had accumulated on the black magician's staff and he finally uttered a sharp voice of "Thunder!", after which a plethora of lightning bolts and sparks of all sizes unleashed their fury on the armed giant with a thunderous sound. The colossus was paralyzed again by a static current that ran through the entirety of its armor, throwing sparks between the joints and continuously producing an uncomfortable, electrifying noise. The Warrior of Light quickly took advantage of that last opportunity and climbed the immobile arm of the colossus with a couple of jumps until he reached his face darkened by shadows... if he really had a face inside that helmet.
"You're mine," he said soberly. Without wasting a second, he imbued the edge of his sword with the power of light and without hesitation plunged it up to the hilt into the creature's helmet. A dazzling glow overflowed the interior of the iron giant and escaped through the crevices of its frame like hundreds of intrepid torrents fired under pressure. After this, the knight jumped back to the ground and silently observed the dying colossus. The sounds inside that enormous armor rumbled without stopping, and the monster staggered from one side to the other trying to cling to a non-existent support. Unable to maintain his balance for much longer, the giant ended up dropping his enormous sword and, after stumbling, he fell heavily on one of his knees while he tenaciously supported one of his arms on the grass. Finally, while each of the pieces that made up his armor shook with disturbing suddenness, a funereal purple light lit up at his feet and expanded in a wide radius. Ominous violet vapors swirled around him after descending from some indeterminable point in the heights and penetrated into his massive frame. After this somber spectacle, a sea of darkness rose from the fleeting opening that had opened its jaws under the iron giant, and after an intense flash like sunlight after a night of dying shadows, engulfed the colossus and, together with him, disappeared immediately. The dimensional distortion, behind him, began to close like a night flower at the arrival of dawn, with resigned parsimony and failing elegance. The threat had been contained. The little moogle wasted no time in pointing out the obvious.
"Look, kupo! The distortion has closed, kupo!" The joy did not take long to swallow up the tension of the combat. The little animal fluttered through the air with joyous tumbles and turns, Vivi jumped with joy as he spun his staff, Rem put her hands to her chest in relief, and the Warrior solemnly held his Braveheart in front of him as he cast a glance at the heaven, to the light that blessed him.
After the temporary moment of relief, the heroes formed a huddle. Vivi was the first to speak, raising a hand to his face as a sign of annoyance. "With this the demons will stop appearing," he stated with total confidence and signs of fatigue in his childish voice.
"Yes, but... will everything end with closing just one distortion?" Rem asked with some suppressed anguish.
"Well, kupo... new dimensional distortions continue to appear all over the world, kupo..." the ancestral spirit acknowledged disconsolately as he looked down. The knight observed him calmly, and decided to express his opinion on the matter.
"There is no other option than to complete all the missions one by one," he stated simply, with a tone full of conviction that filled those present with confidence and banished the small traces of hesitation that had begun to nest in their hearts after the exhausting battle.
"And you have many more companions out there, kupo!" Mog revealed with a spark of enthusiasm. The eyes of the girl and the black magician lit up as they evoked the idea of the assistance of other light-bearing warriors, comrades in battle and friends of adventures.
Unforeseen and (perhaps too) coincidentally, a slightly hoarse call attracted the heroes' attention.
"Hey!"
"It looks like one of those companions is returning from a reconnaissance mission," the Warrior of Light observed seriously. The black magician did not receive that voice with the same formality, as the surprise caused an obvious excitement in his mood.
"Heeey! Mister! Here we are!" the young sorcerer shouted in response, full of lively emotion.
"Ha ha ha!" the newcomer laughed, making an appearance after trotting up the small hill. "I'm sorry! I'm really late!" He excused himself with a wide smile. He was a middle-aged black man with a goatee and a fluffy afro hairstyle. He was wearing a thick olive green jacket that covered a half-buttoned white shirt, and black boots. Two pistols hung from holsters tied with straps to his thighs, and a strange tattoo that drew a curious pattern with what appeared to be black ink partially peeked out from his chest through the opening of his shirt. The man glanced at the mess around him and, barely noticing the Warrior of Light's presence, he commented, "As Mog asked me, I was observing the situation ahead."
"Sazh!" the little floating animal called out, happily revealing the name of that new character. "Congratulations on your recognition work, kupo~. Did you find any distortions?"
"Hmm... it's huge out there," the man acknowledged in a reflective tone, "but that's where the main source of these monsters seems to be."
"Kupo~! We just closed one of the warps, but there are still a lot of them, kupo,” the moogle reported. After this, he added optimistically. "If we all combine our power, we can stop the erosion of the dimension, kupo~."
Rem listened attentively to the dialogue between Mog and Sazh, and with a certain concern permeating the timbre of his voice, she let out some thoughts that were fluttering within her mind, addressing Vivi. "I wonder... if we complete our task here, will we be able to return to the world where our friends are?"
"Surely so," said the little wizard sweetly; "Everything will be fine. Let's do our best, miss."
The magician's moving words had a soothing effect on the hearts of those present. The moogle spirit danced in the air excitedly.
"Very good!" he said. "Quick, let's go to the place Sazh was talking about, kupo!"
The heroes set out peacefully with Mog in the lead and headed towards the place where Sazh came from. Only the Warrior of Light, lost in thought, remained behind for a few minutes. As the parched leaves blown by the howling wind clattered against his armor and the dancing grass caressed his feet, a whirlwind of thoughts swirled inside him. While the stormy clouds attracted by the dimensional distortion finally fled in terror and the sunlight once again caressed those windy meadows, his mind became clouded with the incipient clusters of unknowns.
"A place to return to...?" He asked himself. Rem's restlessness had had a strange influence on his memory. A brief period of profound silence took possession of the waters that beat restlessly against the breakwaters of his mind. Finally, shaking his head slightly, he concluded his introspection. "…I wonder if I have one too."
And he set out after his companions.
A sinuous silhouette was hidden in the vicinity of that hill.
"My, my... annoying little birds," said a voice with a charming and haughty tone at the same time.
A young man with an androgynous figure and delicate gestures approached the place where the warriors were talking. His hair was like silver, his lips like blackberry, his skin like snowflakes in the spring and his eyes like the inaccessible firmament. His gaze was directed towards the horizon, to the point where the heroes of light had disappeared. His harmonious voice spread its wings and escaped from his throat again.
"Although the puppets dance on the stage, they do not perceive the truth hidden behind the curtain."
His metaphors emerged effortlessly and danced deliciously. There was something sublime about the man, but the same aspect that conveyed subtlety also exuded a twisted Machiavellianism that inevitably smeared every syllable uttered. The young man stopped to reflect a little while a smile spread across his neat face.
"At least give me as entertaining a show as possible," Kuja finished as he primly shook his silky hair with his right hand.
TO BE CONTINUED...
References
As I mentioned at the beginning, I wrote the story as accurately as possible. Therefore, this time I will only detail the references I made with the few fragments I added as extras to the base story. I imagine that everyone will find on their own the original references put there by the creators of the game xD
Warning: The following references may contain SPOILERS. Plus, reading the following list is the equivalent of having a joke explained to you. It may ruin the magic of the fic a bit, just as it may lead to greater enjoyment of it (and that last one is my true intention).
- It is important to note that the events of Opera Omnia are simultaneous with those of Dissidia NT. And yes, EVERYTHING IS CANON!
This episode comprises the following segments from the first chapter of the game:
1.1- Intro
1.2- Preface
1.3- The Warriors of Light
1.4- The First Victory
1.5- Dimensional Distortion
Of course, I only decided to use 1.2 and 1.3 as subtitles in my writing to avoid saturating the narrative.
- The name of the place where they are located is, according to the game, "Fluttering Wind Meadow" (風なびく草原).
- Rem does not heal the Warrior of Light in the game until she runs out of magic; In reality she doesn't do it at all, but I decided to put it as an explanation for why she doesn't help Vivi to kill Flan, being equally or even more capable of using magic.
- The Warrior's sword and shield are called, respectively, Braveheart and Shield of Light (according to Dissidia Final Fantasy NT), and Vivi's staff is called Mage Staff or High Mage Staff (it is her starting staff in Final Fantasy IX and in Opera Omnia itself). Rem's daggers, according to the Opera Omnia, are Silver Daggers, but I preferred not to mention this to avoid conflict and confusion with their color.
-The description of Vivi's spells is as close as possible to the representation of him in FFIX.
-What Rem does with the monster corpses is extract their phantoma, that is, their soul, and then convert it into magic points.
- The Siphon Sphere is, in fact, an ability that Rem uses not in Opera Omnia but in Final Fantasy Type-0. It doesn't use magic (on the contrary, it absorbs it from the enemy), so she can use it whenever she wants (more or less).
-The Warrior of Light does not use his elemental fangs in the game, but I found it an interesting and quite logical addition.
- Iron giants are not actually stunned by electrical spells, but they are often vulnerable to them. Practically all the protagonists of the main Final Fantasy games, except those of I, XII and XIII, should know the iron giants. In Type-0 they appear in the Silent Key dungeon, guarding the Setzer airship; that is why Rem recognizes them. Vivi, therefore, should also recognize it since in the Memory there are encounters against iron giants, but I decided to leave it aside so as not to overcomplicate things. Speaking of which, Vivi's self-absorption upon hearing that the iron giants are just automatons is a reference to the whole existential theme surrounding his life and the lives of the other black magicians in FFIX.
I hope you liked it :) It took me a lot of effort to extract something substantial from the first chapter of the game, that is, from the TUTORIAL XD.
NOTES
And that's all for now :) I'm already working on the translation of the next segment. I think it will be much shorter than this chapter, but it will retain all the elements that I wrote here.
In the next chapter: new characters! new battles! new... existential conversations (?)! And some goodies for Final Fantasy VII fans. Very soon, on the same channel and at the same time.